


I'll think of you each time I watch from distant skies

by violetmessages



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Exit Wounds Fix It, F/M, Gen, Jack Has Issues, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Episode: s02e13 Exit Wounds, Team as Family, The team is going to solve them, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28233525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetmessages/pseuds/violetmessages
Summary: In which Tosh makes a discovery and the team comes together to show Jack how much they love him.
Relationships: Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams, Jack Harkness & Team Torchwood, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 28
Kudos: 97





	I'll think of you each time I watch from distant skies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [someawkwardprose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/someawkwardprose/gifts).



> Happy Birthday Ruairidh! I hope this fills all your Jack hugs his family needs!

Tosh discovers it first. 

It’s after Beth and Cell 114. At this point, their anger towards Jack has mostly cooled - he still won’t tell any of them where he’s been, but he’s beginning to open up slightly. 

Gwen and Ianto bring back a small mechanical object, a little dented from the Rift journey. It’s the size of Gwen’s palm, silvery-grey, and when Jack sees it, his face lights up. 

“Give me that,” he exclaims, excitedly taking it from Gwen’s hands. He fiddles with it slightly, turning it in his hand and trying to massage the dents out of the metal. To Gwen’s surprise, he actually manages to do it. 

“What’s that?” she asks, grinning at his enthusiasm. Jack places it on the desk and gives it a spin. The object twists and spins, sending little flickers of light all around them, until it finally topples over. 

“It’s a light-top,” Jack explains. “I had one when I was a kid. It’s made of a moldable metal so you can shape it yourself and see if it spins.”

“It’s beautiful.” Ianto smiles. His face softens looking at Jack, and he holds out his hand invitingly. “May I?”

“Of course,” says Jack, passing the top to Ianto. He carefully places it on the desk and spins it, sending the same light flickering over their faces. Even Owen is entranced by it, looking up from the edge of the autopsy bay. The top spins and spins until it topples over, casting its final glow upon them, and Jack whisks it up. 

“Catch!” he yells at Tosh, and tosses it over to her. Tosh catches it easily, and he winks at her. “Get an analysis on the material - I’m pretty sure it’s some kind of augmented sodium, but double check for me. Then give it to Ianto so he can put it in the archives,” he says, turning on his heel and walking back to his office. 

Conversation about the top stops for a few days until their weekly pub night. When Jack had left, all four of them had gotten into a habit of Saturday night drinks with someone staying sober to babysit the Rift from the portable monitors. Just because Jack had come back didn’t mean any of them wanted to give up their pub night. 

It’s that night when Tosh brings up her discovery. 

“I ran a test on that top that you brought back a few days ago,” she says hesitantly. 

“Oh, Tosh, not work talk now,” moans Owen, taking a gulp of his drink. “We’ve come here to get away from work - not keep bringing it up.”

“Well, it’s not exactly work - just listen. I got a little curious after Jack said he had one when he was younger, and I may have found _something_ ,” Tosh says. She reaches into her purse and pulls out a purple folder. 

“What is it?” Gwen asks. Tosh bites her lip anxiously before pushing the folder in front of them. 

“It’s about Jack. I was able to cross-reference the materials and the time frame it would have been produced in, and I - well, I found information on him. Or, more specifically, what he is.”

“He says he’s human,” Owen says. “I’ve inspected him; he looks human enough. You mean he’s not?”

“Well, I haven’t looked at it yet,” Tosh explains. “I wanted to ask you if you thought it was a good idea to look at it. And if you do, we could go over it together.”

“We know nothing about him,” Gwen says softly. “Isn’t that our whole problem? Everything he does, and we know absolutely nothing about him.”

Gwen looks at Ianto, wondering how he might react. His face is as impassive as ever, offering no expression that might help understand his thoughts. She nudges his arm, hoping to get a reaction. 

“What?” Ianto asks. “It’s not like I have any insight into him. He’s just as close-mouthed with me as he is with the lot of you!”

“Yes, but aren’t you properly dating now?” Tosh asks. “Didn’t he ask you on an actual date?”

“Hasn’t exactly taken me on one yet,” Ianto answers, looking uncomfortable. She pats his arm comfortingly. Ianto doesn’t acknowledge it, but he does relax almost imperceptibly. 

“Well, we know nothing,” Gwen says, trying to shift the focus away from Ianto. “And now, we have a chance to know something. I - what should we do?”

“I reckon we should do it,” says Owen. “I think we ought to know more about him. Especially if he-” he trails off, but everyone knows what he means. 

_Especially if he leaves again._

“Well, I agree with Owen,” Gwen offers. “But it's got to be unanimous. If anyone doesn’t want to do it, then we rip up the paper copy and Tosh deletes the file. It’s only fair.”

“I agree,” Tosh says. “And I think we should look at it too.”

Everyone turns their head to look at Ianto, who is carefully avoiding looking into anyone’s eyes. He takes a sip of his drink and puts the glass down slowly. 

“Well?” Owen asks. “Yes or no?”

Gwen clutches his hand below the table and gives it a squeeze. She looks up at him, hoping to let him know that he can say no and she won’t mind. He looks back at her, and she realizes what he’s feeling. Ianto desperately wants to know more. But he wants Jack to tell him. 

_You can say no_ , she thinks. She nods her head once, hoping he’ll pick up on that. Ianto inspects her face for another moment, then his jaw sets and he turns away. 

“Open it,” he orders. Tosh opens up the purple folder and slides out a single sheet of paper, containing some of Jack Harkness’ secrets. She scans down the sheet.

“He’s from the fifty-first century, and he wasn’t lying about being human, even though there’s some DNA that doesn’t exactly match twenty-first century humans anymore,” Tosh announces. “He’s got an organ in his lower torso that I don’t recognize but they don’t seem to know what it is either. And there’s something here about touch healing? I don’t know what that is.”

“Let me see,” says Owen, and takes the paper from Tosh. “Touch healing. Well, they’ve got some scans and, um, it looks like there’s some kind of empathic connection between skin contact and tryptophan production? That’s odd.”

“What does that mean?” asks Gwen, confused. She vaguely remembers an old biology lesson mentioning tryptophan, but the memory is far faded. 

“Well, normally, tryptophan isn’t produced in humans, we get it from our diets. It’s an essential amino acid - it’s basically the precursor to serotonin in humans. Basic biology stuff,” he explains. 

“Meaning?”

“Serotonin is brain happy juice. Touching makes more happy juice for Jack.” He rolls his eyes at her. 

Gwen snorts. “No wonder he’s so touchy. I thought that was just how he was.”

“Well, according to this, he’s not doing it enough,” Owen says, raising his eyebrows in alarm. “I test for everything, and he had the same levels as all of us.”

“Well, that’s good right?” frowns Tosh. Owen shakes his head. 

“Not if this is correct. He’s severely deficient - he’s probably only been getting it from his food, which isn’t enough. That means his brain isn’t synthesizing enough serotonin,” Owen says. “I’ll dumb it down for you. He isn’t making nearly enough happy juice, which means he’s probably extremely depressed.”

“Poor Jack,” Gwen says, her heart going out to him. “How long has he been like this?”

“He’s lived here since the nineteenth century,” Ianto says quietly. “Did they just touch each other more, where he’s from? Is that why he’s deficient?”

“Well, it’s not like casual touching was common back then. It’s not exactly common right now, either. Has he been like this for two hundred years?” Tosh asks, horrified. 

“We have to do something,” insists Gwen. Her heart drops at the thought of Jack, touch-starved and miserable and, worst of all, unable to do anything about it. “What can we do, Owen?”

“Well, if I was a normal doctor, I’d just prescribe some sertraline and call it a day. But, honestly, it looks like all he needs is to be touched more, and often,” Owen explains. “The biology is fascinating though. I’d love to learn more about how the empathic connection works.”

“We can touch him more, right?” Tosh looks around. “It’s the least we can do. Owen, is there any specific way he needs to be touched?”

“Doesn’t seem to be,” he responds casually.

“It’s an easy fix,” announces Gwen. “But he’ll get weirded out if we just start touching him all of a sudden.”

“What if we did it slowly?” Ianto asks. “We start by doing it a little, and then, slowly, we increase it.”

“Yeah!” Tosh nods, looking optimistic. “And we can all do it - we have to.”

Gwen looks at Owen, raising her eyebrows. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Fine,” he snarks. “Maybe if Jack gets his touching fetish under control, he’ll stop being a twat.”

Shaking her head, Gwen gulps down the last bit of her pint. She knows Owen cares, in his own acerbic way, and everything he does needs to be covered in at least five layers of Not Caring. 

“Well, then, I’m off,” Owen says, standing up. “See you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Owen.” Tosh grins. Ianto nods at him, and he gives a wave before heading out of the door. 

“Five pounds he’s going to another pub,” Gwen teases. Ianto snorts, and Tosh shakes her head amusedly. 

“You’d win that bet. When is he not on the pull?” She laughs. “Anyway, I’ve got to be going too.”

“Bye, Tosh!”

“Bye!”

Tosh slides the paper back into the folder and puts it in her purse, cracking her neck before she leaves. Ianto turns to Gwen, smiling. 

“Want a ride home?” he asks. 

“Yes, but would you mind dropping me off at the Hub for a moment? I left my jacket there,” Gwen responds. 

“Course not,” he says, getting to his feet. “Come on then.”

The ride to the Hub is filled with companionable silence. Ianto turns on the radio, and Gwen hears the dulcet tone of some famous singer while she stares aimlessly outside the window. The streetlights flash by, casting odd shadows across everything. 

“Do you think we did the right thing?” asks Ianto, interrupting her daydreaming. 

“What, sweetheart?”

“Looking at that,” he explains. “What if he didn’t want us to know for a reason?”

“Well, he hasn’t exactly been _open_ ,” Gwen says. 

“He didn’t tell us,”

“One day he’ll tell us things. He’ll tell you things too,” Gwen reasons. “Us knowing isn’t going to hurt him though. He would have never told us, and he’d have gone on, being miserable. Us knowing - it’ll probably help him more.”

“I guess,” responds Ianto. He doesn’t sound entirely convinced, and she’s sure it has something to do with the fact that Ianto likes to be needed. He likes it when people tell him things, when people trust him and let him know secrets that they haven’t told anyone else. She’d thought Jack’s promised date was a step forward in the right direction, proving Jack was willing to be more for Ianto. 

Ianto pulls over into his parking spot, and she slides out, promising to be back soon. She fumbles to pull the switch in the tourist office, walking past the dark hallway and walking through the giant cog door. She ignores the blaring alarms, heading straight for her desk to pick up her jacket, which hangs from the edge of her seat.

“How was the pub?” comes Jack’s voice from behind her, and she jumps slightly, muffling a shriek. 

“Jack,” she says, turning around and batting him on the arm. “Don’t scare me like that!”

He smirks at her. “Don’t be so easily scared then. What are you doing here?”

“Just grabbing my jacket,” she explains. Then, she impulsively wraps her arms around Jack, pulling him close. He hugs back, rubbing his hands on her back. He doesn’t let go until she does, and she can feel how he clings to her brief contact. 

“What was that for?” he asks, with a big smile on his face. She pulls on her jacket, shaking her head at him.

“No reason,” she explains. “Goodnight, Jack.”

“Goodnight,” he responds, pulling his arms back around himself, clutching his biceps. Gwen wonders if he’s learned to cope with the loss of contact from others simply by replacing it with his own. Then she shakes it off and stops staring, leaving via the cog door again. 

Even the slight bit of touch from her seemed to make him glow. What would happen when he got this kind of contact from everyone? It runs through her mind all throughout on the way home, so much so that she’s silent the whole time, something that usually doesn’t happen. 

As Ianto pulls up in front of her flat and parks, his phone chimes and he picks it up. After scanning it, a soft smile appears on his face. _Jack_ , she guesses. 

“What was that?” she asks. 

“Did you say anything to him when you went into the Hub?” he asks suspiciously. 

“No. Why?”

“Because he’s just asked me out again.”

“What?” she exclaims, smiling happily.

“Yeah. He said this: _Yan-toe_ , tomorrow, seven pm, Rift-permitting, I am finally going to take you out,” Ianto says in an atrocious attempt at Jack’s accent. “Wear red.”

“A little demanding, isn’t he?” Gwen teases. “All I did was hug him. I guess the effects happened quickly.”

“That’s Jack,” Ianto says, thumbs texting back. “I don’t think the man has ever understood the concept of tact.”

“Don’t text back right away,” she jokes. “You want to wait for a few minutes so you don’t seem too interested. Come on, Ianto, has no one taught you how to flirt?”

“What am I, a teenage girl?” he mocks back. “Is that why any time I texted one of them, they’d never respond back properly?”

“And don’t forget, never put out on the first date.” She winks at him. He rolls his eyes back, setting down his phone.

“We’ve moved a bit past that, don’t you think?” he says, dryly. 

“A handshake and a goodbye at the door until the third date, if you ask me,” she says, smiling widely. “That’ll show him.”

“Goodnight, Gwen.” He rolls his eyes. She pulls him closer to kiss his cheek, which he returns quickly. 

“Goodnight, darling. See you tomorrow,” Gwen says, getting out of his car. 

* * *

The next day, they put their plan into action. They try it very subtly, just a few pats, here and there. Tosh hugs him in the morning as she enters. Ianto brushes his hand against him when he hands him coffee throughout the day. She links arms with him as they head off to check out a Weevil sighting. When she and Jack come back from the Weevil hunt, Owen demands to check over Jack, even when he claims he’s not hurt. Owen fibs and pretends to be instating a new medical policy for everyone, but Gwen can see how his hands linger across Jack as he checks him over, longer than a typical doctor’s checkup would. 

Jack proves weirdly receptive to their new touching plan. He’s always given them little pats and touches, sometimes longer, but today, he seems to sense their openness to touch. He gives them multiple pats here and there, always short - like he’d be shoved off if he took any more than just brief content, but it’s still there. Owen leaves at six, giving Jack a quick pat goodbye. Gwen and Tosh both make sure to hug him goodnight before leaving together. Gwen makes sure to give Ianto a wink before she leaves, teasing him about his date, which he rolls his eyes to. 

Still, she sees him fiddle with his tie in the reflection of the coffee machine before she leaves, so she’s pretty sure he’s as nervous as she expects him to be. 

She arrives with muffins the next morning. She already knows the date went well, judging by the smiley face he sent back when she texted him last night. She also assumes Jack stayed over, and Gwen hopes to nudge the details out of him at lunch. 

Gwen gives Jack a quick hug when she sees him, kissing the side of his cheek when she lets him go. He gives her a blinding smile in response, which she thinks is probably a good sign. After collapsing into her chair and turning on her computer, she’s greeted with a steaming mug of coffee by Ianto. 

“Lunch?” she asks, hoping he’ll understand that she wants to get the details of his date. He rolls his eyes at her but smiles anyway and agrees. 

Throughout the day, she and the rest of them keep trying to find excuses to touch Jack. Whether it be nudging him to pass items they can easily reach themselves to laughing at his jokes and patting him to express their laughter, they don’t often leave him alone. Even though their touches are small, Jack seems to radiate, giving them dazzlingly bright smiles. Although she suspects that last night’s date might have something to do with it, given that Ianto has nothing but compliments and praise.

She makes sure to give Jack a goodnight hug before she leaves. Jack looks a little confused by the sudden hugs from both her and Tosh, but he hasn’t been sharing any complaints. 

Slowly, but surely, they integrate touch into their lives with Jack. They all find more reasons to hold him and take longer to let go. One day, Toshiko starts leaning against Jack’s side, wrapping her arm around his back, as she explains the basis of her code to him, and she turns that into a daily activity. Gwen tries to find any excuse to cuddle up against Jack’s chest on the sofa on slow days and asks him to entertain her with stories about alien planets. Jack is happy to do so, and she soon learns about many different planets and Jack’s adventures on them - most of which she’s sure are exaggerated. Even though the stories are for her, Gwen knows that whenever Jack starts talking, all four of them are enraptured by his voice. Owen pretends to run more medical tests, often just holding Jack’s arm while pretending to apply different “salves” to them. And Ianto, private as he is, never fails to hold Jack’s hand under the table. 

She knows that Ianto also touches Jack in other ways, but he’d never actually do it in front of them. However, Gwen suspects that, if given the option, Jack would entirely be fine with that happening. 

Bolstered by Owen’s text one day that reads, _Trp levels up, touching works. Keep doing it_ , they keep touching him until one day Gwen realizes that unless Jack is alone in his office, someone is always holding him. It’s having a clear effect on him - Jack smiles more, is less likely to go brood on a rooftop, and is altogether a more stable person. She thinks that’s the end of it. 

Until John Hart shows up again. 

* * *

Gwen watches as Jack comes back up from locking his brother in the cryo chambers. She’s especially grateful that all five of them are okay, that Tosh went with Owen to the nuclear plant - that Gray didn’t hurt any of them. But Jack is hurting. 

She figures that if _her_ long-lost brother showed up, tried to bomb her city and then almost murdered her, she wouldn’t exactly be able to cope either. 

“Jack?” Ianto asks, forehead wrinkled and eyes pleading, as he walks up to them. 

“Not now,” he responds angrily. “Go home, all of you.”

“Stop it, Jack,” Tosh says, looking concerned. “We just want to-”

“-come on, Jack,” Owen says at the same time. 

“-go home,” Jack says furiously, and Gwen has had enough.

“Sit down, Jack,” she orders, glaring at him. He scowls back at her, about to give her a tirade about how he’s in charge and he’s the boss, when Owen pushes him down onto the sofa. He lands with a thud, looking up at Owen in surprise, probably ready to yell at him too, when Ianto shoves him down onto his back, clambering next to him. Owen takes his other side and wraps his arms around him. Gwen and Tosh lie half on top of Jack, half on top of one of the boys, and pull their arms around his neck. Jack, who has been too stunned to talk this entire time, opens his mouth, and Gwen clamps her hand over it. 

“Don’t talk,” Ianto whispers, and Gwen can feel Ianto moving under her, latching himself onto Jack’s side. The tiny sofa is a tight squeeze for the five of them, but Gwen senses that this is what Jack needs. Close contact with his family - to know that they are still alive and to feel their heartbeats. 

Gwen sees Tosh scratch at the edge of Jack’s hair, behind his ear, and Jack makes a low keening sound in response. She feels him underneath her, taking deep gasping breaths, and she can tell that he’s started to cry even before he makes a sound. When she hears his sobs, she’s not surprised, only tightening around him more and placing her hand near Tosh’s, stroking through his hair. Seeing Ianto press his lips to the side of his neck, she scoots further onto Jack, letting Ianto cuddle into him more. 

Jack weeps, and they hold him tight against them. 

All five of them are a tangle of limbs, connected through Jack and his grief. Gwen hopes that it helps, hopes that he can feel the love that they have for him through their embrace. Mostly she hopes that even when they are gone one day, he will have the memory of them within his heart - so that he can know, he had a family who loved him. That they loved him enough to forcibly cuddle him. That he had a family that loved him enough to let him grieve, and to grieve with him. 

Gwen hopes Jack will carry the memory of their tiny, broken family with him and take comfort in them now and even when they are nothing but stardust. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos/Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here](https://violetmessages.tumblr.com/)


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